Former DB star Swafford now starting for Vols

Former Dobyns-Bennett standout Devaun Swafford, a walk-on true freshman, has been elevated to starter for Saturday's game against South Alabama.

Swafford has been listed as the back-up nickelback through the first four games this season. In the latest depth chart released Monday, he is listed as the starter ahead of JaRon Toney.

Swafford graduated from Dobyns-Bennett after a standout senior year. He followed teammate Malik Foreman to Tennessee as a walk-on, and has made the most of it.

Saturday against Florida Swafford returned his first career interception for a touchdown.

“Well Devaun is a great story," Tennessee head coach Butch Jones said Monday.

"Again, he’s a walk-on who’s done a tremendous job. When we were evaluating Malik Foreman, there was another individual who kept making plays on the film. So we kept asking about him and you know part of being a successful football program at this level is having a very successful walk-on program. He’s an individual who’s doing a tremendous job for us, again he’s learning through fire – the good, the bad – but he’s extremely competitive. He takes coaching and he’s very athletic. As the season progresses we fully expect him to get better and progress as well.”

Tennessee hosts South Alabama Saturday at noon. The game can be seen on News 5 WCYB.